Ruff
Calidris pugnax
A bizarre and unique shorebird. Medium-sized with fairly short, slightly drooped bill. Leg color varies from dull greenish to bright orange; bill can be entirely dark or mostly orange. Plumage highly variable, especially breeding males, which have fancy neck ruffs that can be black, white, buffy, reddish-brown, or any combination thereof. Females and nonbreeding birds can be confusing, usually plain grayish-brown overall, sometimes with blotchy markings on the neck and belly. Juveniles are bright buffy with neat scaly patterning on the upperparts. Flight often rather lazy, with deep floppy wingbeats; note white underwings, white sides to rump, and feet projecting well past tail. Males are much larger than females. Breeds in bogs and wet grassy meadows across northern Eurasia; winters mainly in Africa but also across India and Southeast Asia. Migrants occur in almost any wetland habitat, from reservoirs and fields to coastal mudflats. Feeds by probing and picking, often while in shallow water. Rare but regular vagrant to North America, usually single birds found among flocks of yellowlegs.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Calidris pugnax
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Calidris
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : low Arctic to temperate tundra and steppe of Palearctic: nw Europe from Belgium and Scandinavia s through n Ukraine, nw Kazakhstan, n Mongolia to far e Siberia
- Non-breeding range
- AF, sw PAL, India : inland and coastal c, s Europe, Africa, Middle East, Indian subcontinent, se Asia, Philippines, ec China, Taiwan and c to s Japan; rarer Indonesian Arch.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Cuban Blackbird
Ptiloxena atroviolacea
A vocal, gregarious inhabitant of many habitats, although avoids dense woods; often found near human habitation. Note the glossy purple-black plumage, medium-length squared tail, and somewhat thick bill. Similar species include Shiny Cowbird, Red-shouldered Blackbird, and Greater Antillean Grackle. The male Shiny Cowbird is smaller, shorter-billed, and has even glossier plumage than the Cuban Blackbird. The Greater Antillean Grackle has pale (not dark) eyes, a narrower bill and a longer tail. The female Red-shouldered Blackbird is a bit smaller with a narrower bill, and is less glossy. Vocalizations include “schee-o” and a loud “chuck,” both metallic and given singly or in series. Also common is a “chok, chok, chok, lee, lee, lee.”
Amazonian Trogon
Trogon ramonianus
Small yellow-bellied trogon of mature rainforest. Males are green with a blue head and breast and yellow eye ring, females dark gray with a broken white eye ring. Both sexes have yellow belly. Found in a variety of forested habitats, but usually a fairly uncommon species; most common in mature upland rainforest. Song is an even series of high “whew” notes, often sounding vaguely disyllabic, “whe-ew”; usually higher pitched and less breathy than Black-tailed.
Makira White-eye
Zosterops rendovae
Small social songbird, often encountered foraging in upper levels of forest. Mostly olive-green above with a yellow undertail. Belly, chest, and throat gray. Note the smudgy black patch in front of the eye. Found in forest and forest edge from 500 to 2000 meters of elevation, but down to 50 meters of elevation on Makira. Similar to Yellow-throated White-eye, but upperparts less yellow and throat gray. Common calls include a loud mellow “peeeu” and high-pitched “peep-peep” foraging calls.
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